Barrington shuts down Rockford Boylan
Barrington coach Ryan Stengren realized to defeat Boylan Catholic the Fillies needed to contain Titans standout Abby Reed, who entered Friday night’s sectional championship game with 49 goals.
Mission accomplished.
Barrington’s stifling defense led by Aimee Pierce allowed the Indiana-bound senior only 1 shot on goal in the Fillies’ 3-0 win over Boylan in the title game of the Class 4A Jacobs sectional.
Barrington (17-4-1), which claimed its fifth straight sectional championship, advances to play in its own supersectional at 7 p.m. Tuesday against St. Charles North.
“We had principles we used on Reed, but Aimee Pierce was the main person responsible for her,” Stengren said. “It was a total team effort. This was a great win against a very good team. There are no easy teams at this time of the year, and even though we came into the match with four straight sectional championships we told the kids not to take it for granted. We had to earn this win, and we did.”
In a match that was dominated by defense in the first half, the Fillies first dented the scoreboard with 7:47 left in the first half. A free kick by Mia Calamari landed in front of the net, where Annalise Avers booted the ball past Boylan (22-3) goalkeeper Sarah Dobrowolski to give the Fillies a 1-0 lead. That was the score at halftime.
The Titans had a golden opportunity to tie the game early in the second half when Tatum Norton broke free through the Barrington defense and blasted a 15-yard shot on goal, but the ball hit the crossbar to keep the Titans off the scoreboard.
“If that ball goes in the net and doesn’t hit the crossbar maybe it is a different game,” said Boylan coach Mark Couper. “We had some opportunities but didn’t finish. Give Barrington credit — they are a strong team. Ryan (Stengren) did a great job of getting them ready for the match.”
Two goals by Barrington in a two-minute span midway through the second half gave the Fillies control of the match.
Calamari scored with 21:22 left, and Avers scored her second goal of the game with 19:22 left.
“We executed our set plays well and I was in the right place,” said Avers. “The ball bounced our way tonight. Our defense was outstanding. This was a great win against a very good team.”